Destiny's Loot Cave Becomes Standalone Game

Destiny's "loot cave" may have been removed by Bungie but it's not entirely gone. A developer has created a simulation of the cave using Unity.

The Unity game is simply called "Interactive Cave Shooting Simulator." It allows you to aim at a cave entrance and fire a gun until Engrams of various colors pop out. Also, you level up from time to time. The progression seems to be about as luck-based as the post-level 20 progress in Destiny itself.

This is pretty much exactly what the real loot cave was like: players firing into a cavern of fast-respawning enemies and then vacuuming up all the loot. The only thing missing in this Unity game is the soul-crushing experience of the Cryptarch turning your Engrams into crappy weapons or armor.

Sadly, this is as close as PC gamers might get to playing Destiny. Bungie decided to only release the game on consoles, stating that a PC version would divide their attention too much.

"We know there are a lot of people out there asking for PC and we know that there are a lot of gamers that would willingly give us money, but what we have to do is make sure we’re focused enough to bring a good experience to any platform that we ship on," Bungie's Eric Osborne said last November. "What we 100 percent are not going to do is spread ourselves so thin that it negatively harms the other platforms. So right now we have the four platforms, which is a lot to focus on."

There's always a chance that Bungie could release the game on PC eventually. In the meantime, though, this simulator will help you get ready for the game.

Bungie hotfixed Destiny last week so that enemies spawn less frequently at the cave. This effectively ended the loot bonanza there, though some players have found other caves worth camping.

The reason players are so obsessed with farming loot in Destiny is that it's the only way to progress past level 20. You no longer level by earning XP. If you want to get to, say, level 26 to tackle the Vault of Glass raid or level 24 for the Queen's Wrath missions, you're going to need to find some better gear to get there.

Plus, who doesn't want better equipment? It makes your character look cooler and helps you dominate in PvP.

The next major patch for the game should make that progression a little less random. Patch 1.0.2 ensures that Engrams always become the same quality level of gear or higher. Rare Engrams will have an increased chance to produce Legendary items. Also, daily/weekly Heroics and the Vanguard: Tiger Playlist will give players Rare and Legendary Engrams in addition to the usual rewards.